


You got the key (fly out for free)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [47]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26933635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: The farewells that everyone offers up to Noctis and his friends before they leave the city are awkward (because Noct isn't the best with social situations at the best of times and he's well aware of that) but heartwarming nevertheless.
Relationships: Lunafreya Nox Fleuret & Noctis Lucis Caelum, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Everyone, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Nyx Ulric, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [47]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 12
Kudos: 99





	You got the key (fly out for free)

**Author's Note:**

> In which Noctis & crew finally depart from Insomnia! A short little drabble, but hopefully still enjoyable? ;D

**You got the key (fly out for free)**

* * *

The farewells that everyone offers up to Noctis and his friends before they leave the city are awkward (because Noct isn't the best with social situations at the best of times and he's well aware of that) but heartwarming nevertheless.

Noctis's father pulls him in for a tight hug and Noctis returns the embrace, basking in the fond, proud look Regis gives him as he pulls away a moment later.

He and his father have had their differences over the years, had their arguments and spats ad periods of radio silence whenever they butted heads, but there's no denying the fact that there's a strong bond between them. Noctis has always loved his father, even during the times when duty had kept him alone at the dinner table while his father dealt with matters of state, and he's never doubted that his father loves him, wants him to be safe and happy, wants him to live a good long life.

It helps, he thinks, that things have grown easier between them in the last few weeks, ever since the prophecy declaring him the Chosen King had been cast to the wayside in favor of him actually getting to live his life without suffering through an agonizing martyrdom.

It also helps that Noctis has deliberately been going out of his way to involve himself more in the actual goings-on of the kingdom. Responsibilities he'd shirked in his younger years are now sought out, not so much because he actually _wants_ to deal with them but because he understands that he _should_. And because his father shouldn't have to deal with everything by himself, especially not with the war escalating more and more with each passing day.

So he's trying to step up, to make his father proud and keep his kingdom safe.

("Walk tall, my son," his father says, and when Noctis promises that he will, his father smiles and replies, "I don't doubt it.")

He's startled but pleased when Nyx Ulric pulls him into a loose hug as well, ruffling his hair with obvious affection before stepping back and assuming a stance that's somewhere between at-attention and at-ease, hands clasped behind his back. "Be careful out there, Your Highness," the Kingsglaive commander says, offering up a faint but warm smile.

"I'll try," Noctis replies, and something about his answer must be funny because Nyx's smile grows more pronounced, quirking up at the corners with a wicked sort of amusement.

"That's good enough for me," Nyx responds, and then he's moving off to let Clarus and Cor say their goodbyes, clapping him on the back and offering up last-minute bits of advice about combat that he's been hearing since he was old enough to hold a real sword instead of a wooden toy.

He rolls his eyes at them, but yanks them into hugs as well because screw royal propriety, they're his family, too, his uncles in all but blood. They've been in his life for as long as he can remember, fixtures of his existence in a way only family can be.

There are other goodbyes, too, but they blur together in a mosaic of faces and a cacophony of well wishes, and then before he knows it the whole send-off is over and he's piling into the Regalia with his friends.

His friends _and Luna_ , who's riding up in the shotgun seat because none of them are going to make the _Oracle_ ride in the backseat, squished between two guys.

(Luna, for her part, had actually argued _against_ this arrangement, saying that she didn't want preferential treatment just because she was the only female in their party -well, her exact words had been something along the lines of "if you think I'm so delicate as to need coddling on this trip just because I'm a girl, then you're all in for a very rude awakening indeed" complete with an eye-roll at their antics- but Ignis had neatly resolved the argument by having them all take a vote on the matter, at which point Lunafreya had been overruled and given the coveted shotgun seat anyway courtesy of the wonders of democracy.)

Of course, that leaves _Noctis_ in the backseat, squished between Gladio and Prompto because Ignis is the one driving (because Ignis is _always_ the one driving, no matter what car they're using, and Noct quietly vows to himself that Specs will let the rest of them get a turn at the wheel at least _once_ during this pilgrimage).

He grumbles a bit, because Gladiolus is indisputably the most muscular member of the party, (especially compared to Prompto, who's fit but _lean_ , all lithe muscle and borderline lanky limbs) meaning that he takes a bit more seat space than the average person, meaning that it is a _bit_ of a tight ft in the backseat.

He doesn't complain overmuch, though, because cramped quarters or not this feels _right_. The five of them together, heading out into the world.

It feels like this is how it was always meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked that! <3 Also, for anyone who's curious: Ardyn is absolutely present at the goodbye fanfare but he's still working through his Noctis-has-Somnus's-face issues, so just assume he's lurking in the background somewhere, not actually talking to Noct but still watching the send off because he can't bring himself to miss it lol.


End file.
